Mike Deeds

I own a 1989 944Turbo S, this car has 39,000km and is in excellent condition. Earlier today as I was rounding a corner and letting off the clutch I heard a loud pop and lost all power to the ground. After looking under the car I found that the right rear CV shaft was spinning all the way into the wheel yet no power. Is it normal for a CV joint to fail in such a manner and without the telltale popping around corners? I did hear a bit of a rattle going over sharp bumps but did not relate to the CV joint. I will be diagnosing the problem further in the morning I would just appreciate any wisdom from the pros as this in my first Porsche and have only had the vehicle for a month.

Dave E

I lost one this way as well, but I have also had one go with the clicking first. The one that went all at once can be traced to my own ignorance though, I installed a spare from an '86 car in my much higher power '89.

Skip

Are the CV bolts still in place?

No, it is not normal for the CV to fail that way without warning. It could also be the splined shaft input to the hub, but that is equally unlikely.

Mike Deeds

I wish I had the car here to check the bolts I had it towed to the auto hobby shop where I will be doing the repair work. Thanks a bunch for the fast replies. Is there a certain year/model or maufacture of CV joints I should look for to ensure this does not occur again???

Skip

You should be looking for new Lobro (OEM) joints. Complete new axles are not much more than two joints, and come ready to install.

Good Luck!

M758

Most likly it was the bolts. I had them back out on me when exiting the pits for a race.
Going along fine.. then "BANG". No more drive. I pushed the car behind the wall and fixed the car later and found 5 bolts backed out and the last was bend. No threads were damaged.

Bri Bro

If it is the bolts, you should be able to grab the shaft and pull the CV joint away from the trany. You should see a plate on the trany that has the holes on it that the CV screws go into. If you see a broken shaft, well you need to pull it out and replace it. It is held in place by one bolt that goes through the center of the shaft. This could be a pill to get out.

If it is the bolts, you will need to purchase one CV joint to replace the inside CV joint that includes the bolts and the clips: they go between every two bolts and were lost when the bolts fell out.

craig001

CV's can fail in a variety of ways. The metal of the cage can fatigue and just go. My '90 S2 wasn't to the point of "rocks in a can" sound, but they were fairly dry and pretty worn out. From what I've read about Porsches and CV's is that the bearings weren't packed that full of grease to begin with.I think in your case it's more age related given the low milage.

Mike Deeds

Well thank you for all the info, as it turns out it was in fact the bolts. 4 of them had mysteriously backed out and the last 2 snapped off clean, no damaged to the recieving threads and the broken studs backed out nicely with a sharp awl. I went to the Porsche dealer here in town and special ordered 24 replacement bolts at just under 2 Euro a piece not too bad! As for the Lobro replacement shafts... where would be a good place to order on-line???

944LT1

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Helvetica">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Helvetica">Originally posted by Mike Deeds:
<strong>As for the Lobro replacement shafts... where would be a good place to order on-line???</strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Helvetica">The parts bin has them for $189 each side
<a href="http://www.thepartsbin.com" target="_blank">The parts bin</a>